Tracie Egan Morrissey

Having your FUPA surgically removed isn't just an act of vanity, it could also be beneficial to your health, according to a new study that finds that such a procedure could prevent intestinal cancer, particularly in women.

There has already been a link between obesity and cancer, although there was a question as to whether the habits that cause obesity—like poor diet and sedentary lifestyle—were the real carcinogen. But a new study, published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, "unequivocally demonstrates that visceral adiposity" (the fat itself) is linked to intestinal cancer.

The findings are based on a series of experiments on mice. The first group of mice were allowed to eat whatever they wanted from a "mouse buffet." The second group had their belly fat surgically removed before being put on the "buffet" diet. The third group were given a restricted calorie diet, so that their belly fat was limited. The result, says Dr. Derek Huffman, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said that the first group "developed the greatest number of intestinal tumors, and had the worst overall survival." The latter two groups that had less visceral abdominal fat, whether through calorie restriction or surgically removal, had "a reduction in the number of intestinal tumors." So why is this so important? According to Dr. Huffman:

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This was particularly remarkable in the case of our group where visceral fat was surgically removed, because these mice were still obese, they just had very little abdominal fat.

So what are the chances that insurance companies will start covering tummy tucks and lipo as preventative medicine?